Sunny Hills Controls Ball and Valencia

Sunny Hills demonstrated a strong ball control offense in the second half and rallied to defeat Valencia, 14-9, in a nonleague game Friday at Valencia.

In the second half, the Lancers ran 36 plays from scrimmage and held the ball for 16 minutes and 38 seconds. Valencia, in the same span held the ball for more than 7 minutes and got off only 18 plays.

Sunny Hills (3-2) opened the second half by driving 65 yards in 16 plays, with Adam Rodriguez scoring on a three-yard run with 4:44 remaining in the third quarter.

With their offense on the field for most of the final half, the Lancer defense was well-rested when it took the field. Sunny Hills held Valencia (3-2) to a mere four yards in total offense and three first downs in the second half.

“Any time you get a win over a solid team like Valencia, it’s a feather in your cap,” said Sunny Hills Coach Tim Devaney.

Sunny Hills recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff, taking over on the Tiger 24-yard line. Six plays later quarterback Chris Zeiler scored a one-yard touchdown run to give the Lancers the early lead.

Alex Martinez accounted for all of Valencia’s points in the second quarter. He caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Eric Young with 7:02 left in the first half. After missing the point after kick, Martinez put Valencia in the lead with a 35-yard field goal with 1:36 remaining in the half.